Grand Blanc School District gets $476,000 back in water fees, court case still possible

GRAND BLANC, Michigan — After battling over the tap-in fees of the two Grand Blanc middle schools for years, Genesee County Water and Waste Division has been ordered to pay $473,000 to the Grand Blanc School District.

But the district wants more — a lot more.

Grand Blanc school officials and their attorneys say they are owed nearly $2 million in overcharges and legal fees.

“We haven’t cashed the check because we want to go to court on this,” said Grand Blanc Schools Superintendent Michael Newton.

Newton said the $473,000 that the county Board of Review says the school district is due is far less than it should be repaid for overcharges. He also wants the district’s attorney fees — about $266,000 so far — repaid.

“We had to pay the fee, and its taken us five years to get someone to say they overcharged us,” he said.

Mark Hopper, the school district’s attorney, said a two-year study of the schools’ water use shows that the schools used 1,200 gallons of water a day instead of the 54,000 gallons a day that was originally estimated.

That estimate cost the district $988,000 per school to tap in to the system, which Hopper says is an overcharge of about 95 percent.

County officials disagree.

Water and Waste Division Director John O’Brien said board of review members based their decision on the same data Newton and Hopper are using.

“We agree with the decision. They disagree with the decision,” he said.

Seven school districts originally were involved in the lawsuit, which started in 2005. Grand Blanc and Linden are the only two left.

The board of review decided Jan. 11 that Linden’s fees would not be reduced since there was no study of its water usage.

Grand Blanc Township is also involved in the lawsuit since it also charges for tap-in fees based on the county water usage estimates.

So far, the township has not had to repay the district for the alleged overcharges.

Township attorney David Lattie said he was surprised the district was still moving forward with the lawsuit after receiving the $476,000 check from the county, calling the case “a sad waste of everyone’s money.”

Hopper and Newton said the lawsuit isn’t about the money. They hope the suit forces the county to revise the county’s 45-year-old chart, or table, that estimates water usage for different types of buildings, including schools.

Tap-in fees for new buildings are based on those estimated amounts, which aren’t always accurate.

Recently some Grand Blanc Township businesses had the same water usage studies conducted and found that they were using more water than was estimated, while others learned they were using less. The township has reimbursed some businesses and collected additional money from others.

Hopper called the estimates “wildly inaccurate” and is contending that the process violates the state Constitution by violating the Headlee Amendment, which says a government can’t disguise a tax as a fee.

“If we’re right about that ... then we’re entitled to 100 percent of our money back,” he said. Also, he added, it could mean that the county’s water usage estimates can no longer be used.

Genesee County Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright said the table is used to get a “ballpark” figure when no actual data is available, adding that every county in Michigan uses a table, and that each is different.

“You can’t write a formula that gets you exact with every single business. You can only a get a ballpark,” He said. “If no actual data is available, you use the table.”

Newton said he hopes the district wins the lawsuit to protect other schools in the future.

“Our board is very committed to that. We don’t want another school to go through it,” he said.

Judge Geoffrey Neithercut heard the final motions from the school districts, townships and county Thursday, and said he’ll issue a legal opinion next week. If the case goes to trial, it is set for Jan. 26.